Additional Fee per mile - what to charge??!!

[KeepsakeGirl]

i'm about to send out a contract to potential wedding client who has NOT yet chosen their reception venue. I don't want to commit to driving to some location out in BFE and not be paid for travel.

At what distance do you start charging per mile and how much per mile do you charge?


Does your contract state they will be invoiced and will pay this AFTER the wedding day in full BEFORE their albums are delivered or do you calculate the distance and expect them to pay it in full XX days prior to their wedding date?

I need to figure this out ASAP since I'm about to mail this out...Thanks for your help!

[HotHolly]

We usually take all funding prior to the wedding. Trying to get someone to pay you after a wedding usually isnt too much fun. Lots of people do this differently. Our prices allow for travel within 199 miles without extra billing for travel. Beyond that, we charge cost (gas, hotel, food) and time. Some other photogs charge a weekend rate if they will be gone for a while. Where are you going??? Some place good?

[KeepsakeGirl]

Its not a destination wedding - i wish!

The wedding is here in Austin but the decorator was telling me she thought they were looking at some venues that are 1hour + away from the austin area and it might be possible that they book something pretty far and she wanted to give me a heads up to include a clause just in case.....if we wanted to....

we don't charge extra to travel to SA for weddings...and that's about 85 miles from my house.....is that too limited?

[asyouwish]

I consider my "region" to be the entire Brazos Valley (a 7-county area) and charge one hourly rate for events within that area.

For the "triangle cities" (DFW, Houston, Austin, San Antonio), I have another hourly rate that is enough to cover all my travel expenses whether I go there for 1 hour and just need gas, or 12 and need two nights hotel.

If someone needs me to go to west Texas or out of state, I bid that individually.

Somewhere, I have the spreadsheet where I crunched all these numbers to confirm that my higher price would still cover all my expenses. I guess I need to revisit it now that gas is supposed to go up to $4/gal this summer.

-Lori

[Gateruner]

So it looks like your limit is 85 miles. Add that into your contract and then add a per night charge on top of that if the venue is beyond the 85 mile limit. I would consider a hotel room 120-140. dollars plus a meal allowance per day and enough on top of that to cover gas. Perhaps put a max on your travel to be 200 miles and then factor in 3 tanks of gas. Then come up with a flat fee (for the gas) say $120.00 plus $300. per day to cover a hotel stay and all meals. Then add that if they go beyond that mileage limit the fees are for air fare and accommodations(to be paid by the B & G on a per diem for expenses. )

So your contract may read something like this.

Our rates are based on the event venue being located within an 85 mile distance from our Home/Studio listed as 1111 My Studio Lane, Austin Texas. For any venue that is beyond the 85 mile barrier up to and including 200 miles from said Home/Studio office will be charged a flat rate of $120.00 plus a $300.00 per diem for each day. Beyond the the 200 mile service area is considered a Destination Wedding and the client will be required to pay for round trip airfare and hotel at your event site for XYZ Photographer and a minimum of one assistant plus a $150.00 per diem for each XYZ employee attending the Destination Wedding.

You can change this as you want since it is just something I rattled off but it should cover you for any scenario. And if you don't have an assistant for the destination wedding you take your spouse/boyfriend/best friend and enjoy the location. That way you aren't going alone.

Maybe this would help.

[Erin Kathleen]

My limit is within 50 miles of my house - which includes pretty much all of the DFW area. After that it's $.50 per mile each way. My contract states that I reserve the right to charge per mile for travel over 40 miles, I think, or something like that. I can dig it up if you need it. It's just in my standard contract. I've had weddings out in BFE and not gotten paid for the mileage, so I have that written in. I don't know if I have an upper limit on my travel...I haven't picked on yet, but I have a baby girl at home right now and I haven't been away from her over night yet. It would have to be the right kind of wedding/circumstances to have me do a Destination Wedding unless I was bringing my family.

[sbp]

I agree with Scott.
Make is as simple as it can get for client.
You might loose $50 or $100 in one case you can make that up with other client in second case.

[KeepsakeGirl]

Originally Posted by Gateruner

So it looks like your limit is 85 miles. Add that into your contract and then add a per night charge on top of that if the venue is beyond the 85 mile limit. I would consider a hotel room 120-140. dollars plus a meal allowance per day and enough on top of that to cover gas. Perhaps put a max on your travel to be 200 miles and then factor in 3 tanks of gas. Then come up with a flat fee (for the gas) say $120.00 plus $300. per day to cover a hotel stay and all meals. Then add that if they go beyond that mileage limit the fees are for air fare and accommodations(to be paid by the B & G on a per diem for expenses. )

So your contract may read something like this.

Our rates are based on the event venue being located within an 85 mile distance from our Home/Studio listed as 1111 My Studio Lane, Austin Texas. For any venue that is beyond the 85 mile barrier up to and including 200 miles from said Home/Studio office will be charged a flat rate of $120.00 plus a $300.00 per diem for each day. Beyond the the 200 mile service area is considered a Destination Wedding and the client will be required to pay for round trip airfare and hotel at your event site for XYZ Photographer and a minimum of one assistant plus a $150.00 per diem for each XYZ employee attending the Destination Wedding.

You can change this as you want since it is just something I rattled off but it should cover you for any scenario. And if you don't have an assistant for the destination wedding you take your spouse/boyfriend/best friend and enjoy the location. That way you aren't going alone.

Maybe this would help.

TONS! Thanks!!!

[Gateruner]

Glad to help.